Together Again Our Way
by Sugar High2
Summary: Chap. 3! Thanks to VWW, we are able to post our version of Together Again. It's Harry and co. 5th year. New students arrive, new romances occur, and Voldemort is of course back. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello, everyone! This is VeRyWiLdWiTcH speaking! Notice something: Kittyluver87 and a friend of ours (the lovely cricket) have decided to screw up Together Again and put it up under their own screen name! I have given them permission for this, but please don't come whining to me whenever they make fun of my writing, whenever they screw up a chapter so much that it has you laughing your head off or wetting yourself, or whenever they kill a character and then miraculously bring them back to life. I'll be yelling at them enough as it is.   
Have fun reading this revised copy of Together Again on Crack (or whatever they decide to call it)!

Hi, it's us!  Kittluver87 and Cricket under our own screen name!  We hope you enjoy our version of Together Again.  It may be awhile before we post each chapter, but don't let that stop you from reading this!!  

Disclaimer: We do not own Harry potter or even this story, but just read it!!

Chapter One – Birth and Death

Harry set down his quill and blew lightly on his parchment to dry the ink that spelled out his letter to Dumbledore; it was his twentieth letter that month. He ran a finger over the lightning shaped scar that was on his forehead. It still burned as if he'd woken up screaming from the dream minutes before when it had actually been a little more than an hour ago. The pains in his scar were becoming more and more frequent and lasted longer. He rubbed his sleep-filled eyes and leaned back in his chair. The lamp on his desk was now quite dim compared to the brilliant sunrise just outside his window. It filled Harry's room with its golden light, spreading its warmth through Little Whinging. 

As Harry squinted out the window he saw a huge shape coming towards the house on Privet Drive. He then proceeded to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Six owls, one of them his own snowy owl, Hedwig, were flying towards the house. Harry, stumbling the entire way, cleared the window space in a hurry. His room was suddenly filled with light hoots and the quiet rustling of feathers. Each of the owls appeared to be anxious to rid themselves of their parcel first and crowded around Harry, jostling and pushing each other. Harry laughed quietly so he wouldn't wake his aunt, uncle, and cousin, and pulled the letter off the tawny owl that he recognized as Dumbledore's. He peeled off the seal with his fingertips and read the letter:

Dearest Harry,

As you well know, both the Weasley's and Sirius offered to take you in halfway through summer break. You've anxiously waited, no doubt, to get away from your current housing. Of course, it is your choice who you spend the rest of your break with, but I suggest that you make the choice quickly. I will be sending you another letter in a few days.  This will be my thirtieth letter to you.

Sirius has asked me to send you his warm wishes on your birthday and to include the gift attached to the owl. He also said, "Have a very happy birthday, and don't let the Dursley's bother you too much!"

Forever Yours,

Professor A. Dumbledore

"Well, that's cheery," Harry murmured, a brief smile stealing across his face. He glanced back at the tawny owl and gently pulled the package from it. It nipped gently at him and hopped away, perching on the edge of Harry's desk. Harry attached his letter to the owl with an added, "Thanks for the letter and the gift. By the time of next letter, I should have my mind made up. With Love, Harry." And sent the owl on its way, and then looked at the gift. It was rectangular and wrapped in brown paper, much like that of a paper bag. He unwrapped it and saw a spectacularly beautiful red journal bound with a ribbon and a pen that looked much like a quill included. Harry admired it for a bit until he heard grumbling and the bed bouncing up and down in the room next to his. He quickly ripped up the loose floorboard under his bed and placed the book in without investigating it further. He placed the letter from Dumbledore beside it and looked at the next owl. This one was a barn owl that had a letter from Hagrid and a cake that looked like it contained something it shouldn't. He quickly placed that in beside it, not really meaning to eat the cake. _Maybe I should give it to Dudley_ _and his stupid pink Rhinoceros _he thought. The third owl (another tawny) had the list of supplies for Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. He placed that on his desk, promising himself that he'd read it later. 

Ron's gift contained yet another book on the Chudley Cannons, Ron's favorite Quidditch team. Shaking his head gently and giggling softly, Harry placed it in along with the cake and journal. After shooing Pig out the window, he started on Hedwig's parcel. Hermione had written an interesting letter.

Harry,

Guess what! I've been made a prefect! Can you believe it? Ron wasn't made one, much to his relief, and to Fred and George's, too, believe it or not. Do you know if you've been made one? Crookshanks got a hold of my letter after I received it, so I couldn't check it out. He's been a bit grumpy recently, for some reason.  Maybe because I fed him some moldy cheese.  

Have you heard from Sirius lately? He sent both Ron and me letters asking us if we would like to come and stay with him if you want to stay there. Who _are_ you going to choose for that?

Hope to hear from you soon and have a very happy birthday. 

Love always,

Hermione

Harry smiled and opened up the gift. He wasn't the least bit surprised to hear that Hermione had been made a prefect. 

Harry gasped when the small box he'd been holding fell open and a flash of gold leapt out at him. He caught it easily and knew that it was far too light and slow to be a Snitch, which was what he thought that it was at first. He held it up and looked curiously at it. It was a very small golden lightning bolt on a gold chain. He put it around his neck. It fit just under his shirt, laying near his flopping heart.

He put everything else away quickly and noticed that there was one more owl with a package. He grabbed the parcel and the owl flew out the window before he could do anything else. He shook it gently and heard shifting. He opened up the package and saw a note along with a badge that looked vaguely familiar. A large "P" was on it. Harry groaned. He looked at the letter and his fears had come true.

"Well at least Hermione is one too," Harry said quietly to himself.

Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been made a prefect at Hogwarts, school for witchcraft and wizardry. The following list of students have also been made prefects. You will sit with them on the train for the first 10 minutes of the trip. After that, you may sit where you wish.

            Yours Truly,

            Professor M. McGonagall

Harry looked up and down the list. To his amusement, he noticed that Draco Malfoy had been made a prefect. A smile crawled across his face, and he knew that this year would definitely be better than any of the previous years.

Stretching and rubbing his eyes again, Harry headed downstairs to have breakfast and see the family that didn't care if he lived or died.

~*~

Harry stopped near the bottom of the stairs. He heard whispers, but no one was normally up this early. He crept closer and strained his ears to hear what was so important that it had to be said while everyone was supposedly still asleep.

"…Er…yes…why the sudden interest in him? I know that you've just been interested in collecting information for the dark side for the past couple of years."

"Quiet, Muggle. I could still kill you if I felt like it." Harry furrowed his brow. _Uncle Vernon was the first voice, but who was the second?_ A sudden creak of a floorboard caught his attention. Harry's head swung around and he stuffed his hand in his mouth to muffle his gasp of surprise. Dudley was standing behind him. Dudley had lost quite a bit of weight on that diet, considering that he almost never exercised. Harry believed that after that ton tongue toffee that the Weasley twins left him the year before, he might have abstained from even flaming Christmas pudding during the holidays, which Harry knew he spent with his parents.

"_Who's there? They woke me up!_" Dudley whispered, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Harry motioned for Dudley to be quiet. To Harry's surprise, Dudley didn't object. He crept up closer to Harry and the two boys listened to the men below.

"I can only tell you that Harry is spending the rest of the summer with those wretched Weasley's." Uncle Vernon said, his voice sounding nervous. Harry's brow furrowed even farther. Dudley switched his weight from one still whale-like leg to the other. Harry felt as nervous as Dudley. Who was Uncle Vernon talking to?

          "Good. We'll take control of that. Do you know when he'll be leaving?" With a shock, Harry realized to whom the voice belonged. It was Lucius Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's father. Harry went stark white.

         "We're not sure. We haven't gotten any mail from that…that _woman_…yet this summer."

"Hmm…when you do, you'll be sure to summon me?"

         "Yes, yes of course. Just leave my family alone!" Harry felt his blood run cold with the realization that his uncle was dealing with the dark lord, the very person that had landed Harry in their hands in the first place. Beside him, Harry could feel Dudley trembling in fear, his big body almost shaking the stairs. When Harry had come home, he had warned the entire family about Voldemort and his Death Eaters, even though he thought that they didn't care. Dudley, he now realized, _did_ care whether he woke up alive, at least enough to get along with Harry.

Harry heard one of the unforgivable curses muttered by the Death Eater.  He heard Uncle Vernon's footsteps head into the kitchen and a small pop told him that Lucius Malfoy had disaparated.  

"What happened?" Dudley whispered.  

          "The Imperious curse," Harry muttered.  

          "What?" Dudley asked with a confused expression on his face.

          "An Unforgivable curse.  I'm not eating breakfast today," Harry said and headed back upstairs, leaving a bewildered Dudley gaping on the stairs.

~*~

          "What are you doing?" Aunt Petunia shrieked from the living room.  

          Harry and Dudley went racing down the stairs.  Dudley was making the whole house shake.  Once they reached the bottom, Dudley fell flat on his face.  Harry tried to lift the massive form of his cousin, but had no success.  He left him there and headed into the living room.  

          Uncle Vernon was pulling out the bricks in front of the fireplace; the fake fireplace was laying in shatters on the white carpet.  Harry watched in amazement as his uncle pulled the fireplace apart with great strength.  

          Dudley had managed to get himself up and was now standing beside Harry, his mouth hanging open inches from the floor.  

          "Dad?  What are you doing?" Dudley asked.

          "My carpet! My beautiful carpet!" Aunt Petunia sobbed.  

          "Must finish, must get it done for He-who-must-not-be-named," Uncle Vernon whispered.  

          Harry turned and bolted up the stairs, locking his bedroom door.  

~*~

Late that night using only the moon to light his paper and the pen that Sirius had given him that morning, Harry wrote another letter to Dumbledore. After all that had happened that day, after all that he had learned, he felt that he should at least warn the headmaster about what was going on.

Harry sat in silence as the point of the pen scratched across the heavy parchment, his words flowing from line to line. 

_Professor Dumbledore,_

_          This morning I am sad to say I found that my uncle is now under the Imperious Curse.  I don't know what to do, but I do need to get out of here.  Please have someone pick me up soon. Thanks._

_          Harry                     _

"My life's such a mess," he murmured almost angrily.

After sending the letter off with Hedwig, he sat back and reflected on the day. The only thing that kept him awake was the thought that he could be killed if he stayed in this house.  The sound of Dudley snoring made him drift off to sleep. 

A/N: (again) It's still us!!  We hope you enjoyed this.  It's different from VWW's, but we think it's even better.  Expect some fluff in the near future of this story!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:  We're back with the next chapter.  We hope you enjoy!  Why write another disclaimer when we already said it doesn't belong to us?  Just read on!!

Chapter 2-New Faces At Hogwarts

            Harry woke up to a loud rapping noise on his window.  He sat up slowly, reaching for his glasses.  Once his glasses were on he stood up and opened the window.  A tall man with dark brown hair was floating in the air staring at Harry intently.

            "Mr. Potter, I presume?" The man asked.  

            Harry nodded, unable to find words to speak.  

            "Dumbledore sent me to get you, it's all in this letter," The man said, handing Harry a piece of parchment with the Hogwart's seal stamped on it.

            _Harry,_

_                 I have sent someone along to get you.  You can trust this man, I would trust him with my life.  Do as he says and he will get you safely to Sirius' home.  _

_            Professor A. Dumbledore_

            "You might want to pack your things and get dressed," The man said, stepping inside Harry's room.

            "Yes, but may I know your name?" Harry asked.

            "Oh, yes, I completely forgot.  How rude of me.  I'm Michael Wallace.  Call me Mike," Mike replied.  "Now you best hurry, they are expecting you by midnight."

            Harry looked at the clock in his room.  It read 10:30.  Harry quickly went for his trunk, packing his school supplies and some fresh changes of clothing.  He grabbed Hedwig's cage, which was empty.  Hedwig had flown out into the night sky hours ago.  

~*~

The Knight Bus lurched to a stop at the dark haired boys destination. Harry walked dizzily to the front of the bus and stepped off, trying to ignore the pangs of nausea in his stomach. The bus driver grinned toothily at Harry and shoved his trunk off after him.  Mike stuck his head out of the Knight bus.

"This is where I leave you," Mike said.  

"Thanks for your help," Harry replied, feeling a fresh wave of nausea come over him.  

            "You may be seeing more of me then you think," Mike replied and with that the bus took off, a large tree jumping out of its way. 

Harry looked around the bus depot. He gazed around the station, marveling at how much it looked like Platform 9 ¾. Sighing, Harry seized the end of his trunk and tugged it towards a bench. He wasn't sure where he was, so he decided to wait on the bench for a familiar face.

Just as Harry was about to drift off to sleep he heard a bark from behind him.  Harry turned around and found Remus Lupin wandering over towards him with Sirius on his heels.  Harry smiled at his old Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher, and bent down to pet his Godfather.  

"You must be tired Harry, it's not that far to the house," Remus said. 

Harry nodded, as Remus took his trunk and led the way to his small brick house. 

~*~

            Much to Harry's surprise, Ron and Hermione were waiting for him at Lupin's house.  Harry smiled hello, but went up to his room and fell right to sleep. 

Harry spent the rest of his summer vacation with Ron, Hermione, Lupin, and Sirius at Lupin's house, in a small town near London. The house was small but comfortably furnished, seeming to be warm during the week of straight rain that followed Harry's arrival. Harry was extremely quiet around his friends.  He was still feeling guilty about Cedric.  

"Harry, it wasn't your fault about Diggory," Sirius said to him one morning as Harry picked at his eggs. They looked more yellow then what was safe, but Ron and Hermione seemed to be enjoying them, so he ate a forkful. They tasted of cheese, which explained the bright color. Harry smiled slightly at the warm taste it left in his mouth, and then darted for his cup of orange juice as the spicy flavor of a pepper burst in his mouth. Remus smiled slightly.

"You got a jalapeno, didn't you?"

"Yes," Harry sputtered, swallowing his juice in a gulp and then reaching for the pitcher.

At the end of August, about a week before the start of school, Harry, Ron, and Hermione (accompanied by Lupin and Sirius) went to Diagon Alley to pick up their school supplies. Harry saw a few people that he recognized from the previous years, including Ginny and Charlie Weasley.

 "Mum was beside herself," Charlie said.

"She wanted you at the house, but Dumbledore wrote and said that it wouldn't be wise. I wonder why?" Ginny said, slightly confused. Harry knew perfectly well why, but didn't see the need to worry them any further.

On September 1st, all three went to the train station and boarded the train without any problems. The station, though still packed, seemed quieter then usual, and the normal hustle and bustle of the Muggles wasn't even as pronounced. When the whistle of the Hogwarts Express finally blew, Harry leaned out of his window and waved to Lupin and Sirius. When the train rounded a bend and they were no longer in sight, Harry ducked back inside. 

"I need to go to the front of the train," Hermione said.

"Why's that?" Ron asked. Hermione pointed to her Prefect badge, which she had pinned to her robes when they crossed through the barrier between the Muggle station and platform 9 ¾.

"Oh, yeah," Harry said, opening his trunk and rummaging around for the pin. He finally found it and put it on his robes. Ron made a face.

"I'll see you guys later," he said as they left through the compartment door.

"How come you never told us that you were made Prefect too?" Hermione asked as they walked down the corridor.

"It never came up," Harry answered.

As it turned out, there was nothing much to do in the front compartment where the prefects sat. The head boy was a Slytherin (much to Harry's dismay), but the head girl was a kind Hufflepuff who disliked her co-head of school with a passion. Harry grinned at one point when she told him off for scaring one of the first years.

"Honestly," she said with the shake of her head. "You'd think that a seventh year would know better, but no, this seventh year happens to be a _Slytherin_!" Once the boring meeting was over, Harry and Hermione practically ran back to their compartment at the end of the train, and no sooner had they sat down when a soft knock on the door made all three of them jump.

"Who knocks on doors nowadays?" Ron wondered aloud as Hermione reached for the handle of the door.

"Dunno," Harry said. A short, slim girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old stood in the door, her dark red curly hair swirling around her shoulders. She brushed her bangs out of her green eyes and stared at them with curiosity.  Harry looked at her strangely, remembering a picture he saw once of his Mum.

"Um…hey. Do ya mind if I sit in here? I'm new to Hogwarts, and I don't know anybody yet except for the jerk back there with the blond hair. Do ya know him? He appears to have been jinxed lately." The group grinned at her after trying to understand what she had said. She had the weirdest accent, one that Harry was sure he had heard once before on a Muggle movie that Dudley had been watching. It was about The Mob in America.

"Sure. Where are you from?"

"I'm a foster house brat," she said, rolling her eyes at the title. "I've been orphanage hopping since I've been able to talk. My name's Audry, by the way."

"'Fosta house brat'?" asked Hermione as the two boys looked at her for an explanation.

"Yeah. I'm an orphan. I said that I've been in orphanages," Audry said, slightly annoyed. Hermione sniffed derisively.

"You're not from England or Scotland, are you?"

"Well, I _was_ born in England, but when my parents died I was sent by a friend of the family to Hawaii. I've been traveling the states since I could talk. I moved from New York to here from the worst wizarding orphanage in the world, I swear!" She laughed lightly. Hermione gave her a cold look as Ron grinned.

"Have a seat." Audry smiled at him and then looked at Harry. Her eyes widened slightly as they rested on his scar.

"You're Harry Potter, aren't ya!" She said, sitting down between Ron and Hermione. Harry sighed and nodded. "I've read about ya in books, of course, but I never imagined that I would actually get to meet ya! My friends always said that I looked a bit like ya." She pointed to her eyes. "My eyes are green and my hair's really messy and all, but as you can see it's red." She rolled her eyes again. 

"'Books? Oh! Books…yeah, Hermione said something about being in several Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts books."

"'Several'? More like three bookshelves full!"

"Really?" Ron said, slightly interested. "And how would you know?"

"Mmm…aside from reading the entire school library at _least_ once, I've been to nearly every wizarding library across New York State," she exaggerated, much to Hermione's disapproval. She huffed, pulled out her Transfiguration book, and began to read on the chapter about transfiguring body parts. Harryand Ron grinned at each other.****

"So…do you like Quidditch?" Ron asked with a grin

Audry cocked her head. "Well I've never played it before.  How do you play?"

Ron nearly exploded. "You've never played!  Who would have never played Quidditch?"

"Mudbloods and Muggles, of course!" A drawling voice said from the door. Audry turned, sniffing the air.

"Do you boys smell something? I just all of a sudden…oh, that's why! It's a pureblood with a rotten attitude towards people he doesn't even know!" She stood up and energetically shook his hand. "Nice to meet ya again…" she fished around for his name, and when he failed in shock to give it to her, she supplied one. "Dumb! Dumb Jerk! That's what it was. So sorry, Dumb, I completely forgot your name!" Malfoy had never looked more furious.

_Dumb Jerk?_ Harry mouthed to Ron behind Audry's back. He shrugged.

"You'll pay for that, Mudblood," he growled menacingly. Harry noticed his ears were a bright pink, when he looked at Ron. Crabbe and Goyle stood there, too stupid to do anything but stare at the strange girl from New York. "My father will most definitely hear about this."

"And what would your father say if you told him what you'd been calling me? Huh?"

"He wouldn't care," Malfoy shrugged. Audry raised an eyebrow.

"Some parent. You know, I've just been reading up on some jinxes, and I found plenty of them that aren't removable.  Now just let me look for my wand…" Audry said rummaging through her bag.  When she had finally found her wand, Malfoy was gone.  

"I have never seen Malfoy scared like that in my _life_!" Ron said, slapping his knee. "Well, except after the ABF incident."

"ABF?" Audry asked, putting her wand back in her purse and sitting down again.

"Amazing Bouncing Ferret!" Harry and Ron yelled in unison. Another door slammed shut and the tinkling of breaking glass could be heard again. Then Malfoy began to scream at Crabbe and Goyle for not standing up for him. Audry rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand to repair the window. The shards sprang up into the windowpane, repairing them.  Ron muttered an indistinguishable word under his breath.

"Pardon?" Hermione asked, looking up from her Transfiguration book she had picked up once more.  

"Huh, I didn't say anything," Ron said, turning red.

"Yes you did, you said Malfoy was your cousin!  Some family member!" Audry exclaimed.  

"What?" Harry and Hermione yelled in unison.  

Ron's face was redder then his hair and he was staring at the ground.  

"How is this possible?" Hermione asked.

"My Mum and his Dad are brother and sister.  They never liked each other, and look how his family turned out," Ron said.  

"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Hermione asked.

"It never came up," Ron said with a shrug.

            "Ron, that's just horrible," Harry said.  "I thought it was bad enough to have Dudley as my cousin."

            "Tell me about it," Ron replied, turning to stare out the window.  

~*~

"We will be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes time," proclaimed a nasal voice on the train's intercom. "Please be dressed in your robes by that time." Audry stood up and grabbed a pair of her robes out of a small travel suitcase by her feet. Audry and Hermione left to go find a compartment full of girls so they could change into their Hogwarts uniforms and left Ron with Harry.

"What do you think of her?" Harry said to Ron as he rummaged around in his trunk for his tie.

"She's amazing," he said, starting to blush. Harry looked up.

"She looks familiar to me for some reason," Harry remarked.

"You mean you think you've seen her before?"

"Well…yes and no," he said, scratching his head. He moved a book and discovered his lost tie wedged between his Herbology Dictionary of Plants and his new DADA book. 

Ron groaned. "Don't tell me that you're going all Trelawny on me!"

"No, it's not that; I just…she…I don't know!" He threw his hands up in the air.

"'I just…she…' what?" Audry said, coming back in. Harry blushed and continued to rummage in his trunk.  Hermione was scowling at the way Audry had rolled up her skirt.  It was hanging barley a quarter of the way down her thighs.  

"Er…" Ron sputtered.

When the train finally clanked to a stop, Audry had never looked more excited.

"I haven't been sorted yet," she said eagerly. "What's it like?"

"Well, you have to duel with a dra—" Ron started with a sly grin.

"Don't be stupid," Hermione said, snapping her book shut and putting it back in her trunk. She then proceeded to open the door and jumped out onto the platform. "You have to put on the Sorting Hat and then it will sort you into the house it feels you would fit in most." She stalked off towards a mob of students preparing to board the horseless carriages that were currently rattling towards Hogsmeade Station.

"Don't let it push you around," Harry added, trying to pull his cloak out from under a stack of papers and quills. He managed it, but not without severely scratching his hand twice on the point of the quill. "What house do you want to be in?"

"Well, I've heard all sorts of good things about Gryffindor," she began, twirling one of her curls around a finger and following them down the platform for a ways. They stopped as a mass of students got in their way. "Ravenclaw sounds nice, but Hufflepuff just sounds like it's for a bunch of do-gooders. Slytherin doesn't sound very nice at all. Yes, Gryffindor, I think."

"Good choice!" Ron said, slapping her jovially on the back. She choked and swallowed her gum. "We're in Gryffindor. Well, see you at the feast!" He said as she was pushed by a group of first years towards the boats.

"Wait!" She cried out, trying to move back towards them. "How do I get there?"

"Follow the first years!" Harry yelled back. Audry was swept out of sight.

"Good riddance," Hermione said grumpily as they caught up with her.

"You don't like her?" Ron asked, confused.

"I don't _trust_ her, and she's a show off," she corrected. Harry looked at Ron as they reached the horseless carriages and then clambered into one after Hermione as the first few carriages rolled away into the darkness.

Harry peered out the window, gazing at the lake and the twinkling lights of the lamps on each boat. He could barely make out Audry's figure on a boat of three very small first years. He couldn't see the expression on her face, but he bet it was one of embarrassment. He would be, if he had to be the only fifteen-year-old being sorted among a group of eleven-year-olds.

They reached the castle and Harry hopped out, happy to be back at the only place he had ever called home. Peeves was nowhere to be seen, which made everyone happy, since the previous year he had bombarded them with water balloons after they had already been soaked by torrential rains.

The Great Hall was lit only by the slightly overcast sky and thousands upon thousands of flickering candles, so the shadows made the room slightly eerie. Harry shivered under his cloak. It sure was cold for September. Harry quickly found the Gryffindor table, minus last year's seventh years, and rushed over to it to seat himself, as if the sorting would go faster just because _he_ moved faster. Ron and Hermione followed, obviously just as hungry as he.

"Snape's still here," Ron said, sounding disappointed. The greasy haired professor was talking to a short man with wiry white hair, whom Harry realized was Professor Flitwick."

"Flitwick's lost some hair," he noted, nodding in his direction.

"Oh, look, there's the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!" Hermione said, pointing. Harry looked too. For one wild moment, he thought that it was Sirius at the top table, laughing at whatever joke Dumbledore had just told. After closer inspection, he discovered he was wrong. The man was much too dark to be Sirius, and he had more muscles then his godfather had.

"He looks familiar," Ron said, squinting.

"I thought he looked like Snuffles," Harry told him. Ron nodded.

"I can see the resemblance, but you're right; it's not him. Here come the first years and Audry," he added as a silence fell over the room.

Ron was partially wrong. It wasn't only Audry and the first years. A bunch of new students, ranging from twelve to seventeen, also filed in. Harry was surprised to see that some of them were wearing the same kind of robes that the Beauxbatons students had been wearing the year before.

Audry looked extremely annoyed as she entered the room. Professor McGonagall brought out the stool and placed the hat on it. Harry stared at it and waited for it to sing. After about twenty seconds and still nothing had happened, Harry turned to Ron and Hermione. The looked confused.

"What do you think is wrong with it?" he asked.

"Maybe it ran out of songs," Ron suggested with a shrug. A strange buzzing filled the room as the students began their conversations again. Harry looked up at Audry. She no longer looked annoyed; she was severely nervous now, shifting from foot to foot as she raked the crowded hall with her eyes. When she spotted Harry, he gave her a comforting smile. She smiled weakly. Professor McGonagall ran up to the Sorting Hat, a frown on her lips, and picked it up. After placing it on her head and listening for a few moments, nodding all the while, she placed it back down on the stool and ran over to the top table, right to Dumbledore's seat. She whispered in his ear for a few moments before he nodded and stood up.

"I'm sorry to say that we won't be using the Sorting Hat this year to sort the new students, due to the fact that the Hat refuses to sort anyone over a first year," he said with a quick glance to Audry and the other older students. Audry looked guiltily at the crowd. Harry's mouth fell open.

"It won't sort them?" he gasped. Ron looked surprised. Uproar came from some of the students.

"I wanted to hear its song!" A second year said shrilly. Dumbledore smiled.

"This does not mean that we won't be able to sort them, of course," he said, holding up a hand for silence. It was quickly gained, and he continued. "I will call the students up to the top table. They will be requested to place their wands tip to tip with mine. The burst of light that comes from the wand will determine what house they are to go in." The first years looked terrified, and Audry's look of annoyance was back. Harry thought he heard a faint whispering in his head, which startled him, but when he tried to listen to it, it stopped, so he thought nothing of it.

Professor McGonagall picked up the sorting hat and tucked it under her arm. As she passed the top table, she handed a list of the new students to Dumbledore and walked out of the room to put the Sorting Hat back in Dumbledore's office where it belonged. Dumbledore cleared his throat.

"Acridge, Aaron." One of the first years stumbled out of line and walked shakily up to Dumbledore. He placed his wand tip to tip with Dumbledore's, trying not to tremble as he did so. A flash of yellow light burst from the wand tips and soared up into the air, taking the shape of a badger. The Hufflepuffs began to applaud heartily, welcoming Aaron to their table and house. 

"Arando, Katrine." A fourteen-year-old girl with deep blue eyes and silky brown hair nearly floated up to the front table, her head held up high. She didn't seem the least bit frightened as she placed her wand tip to tip with Dumbledore's. The Ravenclaws warmly welcomed her as the deep blue shape of an eagle soared towards the enchanted ceiling.

"Atins, Kyle." Frightened and looking quite intimidated by the giant sixth years on either side of him, a boy with hair so black that it appeared to have blue highlights in it walked towards Dumbledore. He trembled as he placed it tip to tip against Dumbledore's. A badger scuttled out, and the Hufflepuffs applauded again.

"Audry," he said without announcing her last name. Harry supposed this was because she was an orphan and didn't have one. She walked carefully up to the top table and placed her wand against Dumbledore's. The students gasped in awe as the magnificent burgundy shape of a lion padded out, tossing its mighty head and roaring. Recovering from his shock, Harry began to cheer with the rest of the students. Audry tossed her head as well and smiled at the students as she walked over.

"Well, I made it!" She said. "I'm lucky that I got the one I wanted. I was worried, since I thought the wand would sort me into the house it thought me most fit to join. If the Sorting Hat weren't being such a choosy prick it wouldn't have mattered. Um…right?"

"Probably," Harry agreed. He remembered how the Hat had wanted to sort him into Slytherin and not Gryffindor.

"Why does this always have to move so slow?" Ron moaned, massaging his stomach as if it hurt him. "Come on! I'm starving!"

"Why are there so many different aged students being sorted?" Audry asked, applauding for Backlin, Jordana as she was sorted into Gryffindor. The girl was small enough, and her long thick hair didn't help make her seem taller.

"I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with Voldemort's rebirth." Hermione's mouth drew into a thin line and Ron flinched slightly, as Harry knew they would, but he was completely unprepared for Audry's reaction to his saying Voldemort's name. She slapped him hard in the back of the head, knocking his glasses off, after her face had finished paling.

"Don't you joke about things like that!" She nearly yelled at him. Harry blinked.

"I hate to break the news, if you didn't hear about it in the states, but Voldemort was brought back last school year." Audry slapped him again.

"Don't say his name!" She hissed in unison with Ron. Harry shrugged and turned his eyes back to the Sorting, and to Dumbledore, whose wand had just declared Dracoan, Tiana, a Slytherin.  "Hey, Ron, isn't that your cousin?"

"Shh!" Ron yelled, holding down her finger that was pointed towards Draco Malfoy.  "I don't want anyone to know he's my cousin."

"You told them!" Ginny whispered from across the table.  

Ron blushed once more, but turned to stare at the students being sorted.

~*~

"Zwu, Chan Lo." Dumbledore read the last name off the list. The Asian boy walked quickly up to Dumbledore and was placed in Slytherin. Harry felt like cheering. There had never been so many students sorted that he could remember. All the tables seemed more crowded then usual, and Harry felt that even if he'd tried, he wouldn't be able to see over all the black hats in the hall.

Dumbledore rolled up the parchment and handed it to Professor McGonagall as he faced the students.

"As you can see, we have welcomed students from different schools all across the continent," he said. Harry snorted slightly.

_You would have to be blind not to see,_ he thought. He saw Audry grin slightly.

"They will be staying for the remainder of their schooling at Hogwarts, and I expect to gain more students over the course of this year." Harry felt his jaw drop. _More_ students?

"We're packed enough as it is!" Hermione yelled, outraged. Most of the other Gryffindor's were displeased as well, and they voiced that displeasure rather loudly and obscenely.

"Other than that, there is nothing new to say. Dig in!" He waved his hands out in front of him and the golden plates and platters filled with food. Harry grinned eagerly and laughed when Audry jumped at seeing all the food appear.

"I swear this wasn't here five minutes ago," she said, eyeing a bowl of mashed potatoes near her elbow.

"The house-elves send it up," Ron said through a mouthful of garlic bread. Using his free hand to spoon spaghetti onto his plate, Ron continued to munch on the bread and managed to get crumbs in everything. Harry smiled and bit into his chicken breast, hungrily devouring it.

~*~

"I couldn't eat another bite if someone threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on me!" Ron moaned, patting his full stomach. Audry polished off the last of her green beans and leaned back in her chair.

"It should be time for bed soon," she said, looking at her watch. She frowned at it for a moment, and then shook her wrist and held it up to her ear. "This _can't_ be right!" She murmured, looking at it again. "It says that it's 10:30! The teachers can't be _that_ lax!"

"What?" Hermione said, startled, looking at her own watch. Her face contorted with annoyance. "It's a quarter till!"

"Hmm…musta set it wrong," Audry said, frowning at her watch again. Dumbledore stood up, causing the hall to go quiet.

"Now that we've fed you," he said, fixing a steely eye on the Slytherins, who were becoming a bit too rowdy for safety. They didn't immediately quiet down, but after a few seconds it became considerably less noisy. Harry ignored their jeers and looked back to Dumbledore. "It's time for bed. Off with you, now! Don't forget that you don't have classes till Monday!" Harry stood up and nearly ran into the teen with the sneering face behind him.-

"How _does_ he always appear when you least expect him to?" Audry asked, rolling her eyes. She then turned to Malfoy with a sneer on her face to match his. "So, Dumb, you still want me to cast that wonderful hex that I spoke of earlier?"

"You'd be smart not to speak to me in that fashion, Mudblood," he sneered back. Audry rolled her eyes.

"That had better not be the worst word that you know."

"Oh, like you would know anything better?" he shot back, an irritated look on his face. Audry smiled sweetly and whispered that he and Ron were cousins into his ear. He went pale.

"Where did you find out about _that_?" he gasped. She smiled again.

"That's for _me_ to know and for you _not_ to find out!" And with that, she swept around, her hips swishing seductively, and walked up the stairs. Harry chanced a glance at Malfoy to see his expression. It was one of anger, but one of longing as well. Harry shook his head and turned away. For some reason, Audry's movements weren't affecting him as much as they were for every other male in the hall. Ron was practically drooling, and Hermione glanced hotly at the two of them.

"Boys," she muttered and headed up after Audry. Harry followed, his prefect badge shining brightly on his robes as Draco went to take his jobs as a prefect.

~*~

"Blimey, I'm tired!" Ron said with an exaggerated yawn. Harry glanced over at the girls and saw Audry blink sleepily.

"I'm exhausted," she murmured. "You try taking an eight hour flight, then driving straight to a train station and boarding a five hour trip to a castle in the middle of nowhere."

"You _must_ be tired!" Harry said. He ignored his own sleepiness and instead paid attention to where he was going. It was the new prefects duty (as it had been explained on the train) to lead the new first years, and since they had new students who didn't know where the dormitories were, it was his and Hermione's responsibility to lead the new Gryffindor's to the common rooms. Ron was just coming with them since he had nothing better to do.

Peeves suddenly bounced into the corridor they were in, startling everyone and scaring several first year girls into hysterics.

"Ickle firsties!" He cackled as he had in Harry's first year. He rolled his eyes.

"Sod off, Peeves!" He said to the poltergeist. Peeves stuck his tongue out and made a rude gesture with one of his fingers.

"Too bad Peeves isn't in a house," Ron whispered to him, regarding Audry's expression. It was one of curiosity and amusement as he dropped a couple of water balloons on the group.

"Peeves!" Someone roared from a doorway nearby. Harry looked over and dodged another balloon. It was the new DADA teacher. He was walking towards them now, a furious expression on his face. Harry was slightly surprised as he skidded to a stop and pulled his wand out.

"Professor-"

"Peeves, you were strictly told to keep yourself and your balloons absent for the night!" He yelled. Peeves grinned fiendishly.

"I know something you don't know!" He sang. The poltergeist spun around and repeated it. "I know something you don't know!" The man frowned.

"Peeves, I'm giving you to the count of three to skive off!" Peeves stuck out his tongue again and zoomed off, causing several of the torches to sputter and die as he blew hard on them. Harry shook his head.

"That was Peeves, the resident poltergeist. He's always trying to get the students into trouble, and always pestering the teachers. My advice is to stay away from him for the first couple of weeks, if you can. And this," he continued, turning to the professor, who still had an angry look on his face, "is the Defense Against the Dark Arts, or DADA as we like to call it, teacher. Professor…" he looked at the teacher, suddenly realizing that he didn't know his name.

"Professor Edward Sirs," he said, holding out a hand to shake Harry's. "And you're the famous Harry Potter, of course." Harry rolled his eyes again. Some of the first years began to whisper among themselves.

"Anyway, we need to continue to the common room," Harry said, beginning to walk again. "We'll see you in class, Professor."

"Good-bye, Harry," he said with a wave. A smile had crawled across his face; one that Harry felt was too familiar. He turned back to the professor.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" Harry asked. Sirs, who had already started back to his office, turned in surprise.

"Not unless you've seen me in one of the shops," he said. A strange look came over his face. Hermione cleared her throat.

"Down here is the charms corridor. If you're wondering why this is taking so long, it's for several reasons. First of all, we're trying to show you all your new classes, with the exception of Potions, which will be down in the dungeons. And for you older students, your electives will be around and about, and I'm not even going to try to name all the classes you might take. The second reason is because Mr. High-and-mighty here is being-"

"The slow poke of the century! Come on, Harry!" Audry interrupted. Harry smiled and took his place at the front of the line, letting Hermione talk for a while.  He felt his heart flutter at the sound of Hermione's voice, but he didn't understand what that meant.  

By the time they got to Gryffindor tower, all of the students were sleepy eyed and most of them looked ready to sink into the floor from lack of energy. Hermione was struggling to keep a smile on her face, and Harry knew that his glasses were in danger of slipping off of his nose, but everyone was grateful to climb through the Fat Lady's portrait after giving the password. ("Bludgeon!") Harry pointed out the vacated seventh years dormitory to the first years and lead each new male up to his dormitory. Harry was startled to find that they even had a new fifth year boy, who promptly seized the bed nearest to the door. He proceeded to stick his nose into a book, ending any chance of conversation. Harry exchanged a look with Dean Thomas, who was putting up a new poster of the West Ham soccer team. Harry had finished showing the boys where to go, so he rummaged around in his trunk for a blanket. The cold night air was slipping through some crack in a wall nearby and was making the room downright drafty. After securing the thin wool blanket around him, Harry headed down to the common room to have a well-earned talk with Ron, Hermione, and Audry. As he stepped into the room, he saw that only Hermione was there, her nose jammed into a book as usual.

"Hullo," he said, plopping down on the couch.

"Harry, do you know where my dress robes from last year are?" Ron said, bursting into the room. Harry jumped.

"Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to use them to plug the galleon sized hole in the dormitory window so the decent people could get some sleep. It's like ice in there!"

"It's not only there," Hermione said, rising to get closer to the fire. "It's all over the school. Even down by the fire here, it seems really cold.  The windows just won't close.  I'll have a chat with McGonagall about it tomorrow."

"We'd be better oft to just bundle up tonight," a new voice said from the girls' dormitories. Harry looked over the top of the couch and saw Audry wrapped in a light purple fleece blanket. The bottoms of a pair of blue plaid pajama pants were visible beneath the hem. "Isn't it about time for bed?"

"I just thought I'd get in some last minute studying before classes on Monday."

"Don't you mean tomorrow?" Harry said, stifling a yawn.

"Today is Friday, you prat," Ron said, whacking him in the back of the head. "Besides, what do you still need to study, Hermione?"

"Well, _you_ two don't have Arithmancy," she snapped, closing the book she was reading. Harry saw the gold lettering and library placement card flash briefly in the firelight before something dropped out of the book. It dinged as it hit the ground, and bounced out of sight.

"What was that?" Harry asked, getting up to look for it.

"Dunno." Ron said, squatting down to look under the couch. "Nothing here."

"I would have said that it was a ring or something." Audry placed a delicate finger on her chin and thought for a few moments. "I've never heard such an unusual sound come from a ring before, though."

"We can look for it in the morning." Harry said with a yawn. He then shivered again. "I'm going to bed. It's bound to be a lot warmer in there then it is in here!"

A/N:  So what do you think?  Aren't we evil?  Don't you worry, there is plenty more fluff to come.  You just have to wait a few more chapters, but we'll be putting in tiny bits of fluff as we go along!!   Please leave us a review and tell us what you think!

Kittluver87 and Cricket AKA: Sugar High


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-Prefect Blues

_He could feel nothing but cold—and how cold it was! He blew on his hands to warm them up, but it felt as if he'd never been warm, never would be warm. He glanced up when he felt another presence in the room, and saw a transparent figure who looked vaguely familiar. He had dark, dark hair that stuck up in all places, and cold, deep brown eyes. He glided over to the small circle of men in the room, and began to speak._

_"She has returned to England," he said simply. Who's "she?" Harry wondered. He kept his thoughts to himself, however, and kept listening._

_"What?" another voice said, sending shivers down his already trembling spine, and Harry believed his lips and fingers had gone blue. "How can that be? It's past the fifth year of life!" Harry furrowed his brow. What were they talking about?_

_"Nevertheless, she has returned."_

_"Is she at Hogwarts?"_

_"Yes." The ghost's eyes began to burn with an inner flame Harry had only seen in one person's eyes before. The second man stepped forward, and Harry gasped. It was Voldemort!_

_"You can fight if you wish, but you'll never break free," he said to the struggling ghost. The ghost spat on Voldemort, who shivered slightly and frowned. He pulled out his wand and, much to Harry's surprise, pointed it at the ghost._

_"Crucio!"_

~*~

Harry sat bolt upright in the dark of his dormitory, cold, sweaty, and breathing hard. His scar burned like fire on his forehead. A slight cry reached his ears from the common room, so he got quickly out of bed and headed down to see what the problem was_._ Audry was laying on the floor, also breathing hard, the same purple fleece blanket around her on the floor.

"What's the matter?" he asked curiously.

"N-nothing…bad dream." She gazed around, her eyes practically leaving gouge marks on the walls and furniture. "It…um, it startled me, that's all." She took a deep breath and lifted herself off the floor. The blanket, now lying forgotten on the floor, had hidden a light blue tank top that was very tight and very low. Harry gulped slightly and averted his eyes.

"I'm going back up to bed. By the way, why weren't you in your room?" he asked her, turning as he started to head back to his dormitory.

"I get the feeling that Hermione doesn't like me for some reason. I haven't figured out why."

"So…you're not staying there because you think Hermione will snub you or something?"

"Exactly. Well, if it's warmer up there then it is down here, I think I'll go up too. Good night!"

Just as Harry was about to say goodnight he bumped into Fred and George whom were rushing down the stairs.  

"Watch it!" Audry yelled. 

"Where are you going?" Harry asked at the same time.

"Are you going to visit your cousin?" Audry asked.

Fred and George looked like they would have killed Audry if Harry hadn't pushed her past them into her dormitory.

"'Night." Harry turned around and suddenly stopped when he heard Audry humming on the other side of the door. The song was so familiar. He shrugged, thinking he'd heard it on the radio at the Dursley's or something and went back up to bed.

~*~

"Who got up late last night? Was that you?" Ron asked Harry the next morning as the two of them dressed.

"Yeah," Harry told him, finally locating a pair of socks that weren't all stretched out. "I heard someone in the common room, so I went to go check it out." The two of them bumped into Hermione and Audry in the common room.

"Morning," Audry said with a barely suppressed yawn.

"Didn't sleep well?" Ron asked, pushing open the portrait guarding Gryffindor tower.

"No; I had weird dreams last night."

"You too?" Ginny Weasley said, popping up behind them. "I dreamed that I married my…cousin and our rings were made of pink soccer balls!" They all laughed and Audry grinned at her.

"You mean you married Dumb Jerk?" Audry asked.

"Don't you ever mention our cousin again," Fred said angrily.

"Oh, look! Schedules!" Hermione cried, reaching for one out of a pile that was suddenly thrust magically into her hands. Harry's hands were also full. He looked at the first one on top. The card read, "FIRST THROUGH THIRD" in big, bold letters.

"See you all later," he said wearily, fingering the necklace that Hermione had given him for his birthday. She must have seen him touch it, for she smiled warmly at him and set off, handing the cards out to the owners. He heard Ron groan loudly and emit a small string of explicatives as he realized that they were still stuck with the Slytherins in Potions.

"Why can't McGonagall just put us with the Hufflepuffs for once?" he roared over Ginny's excited squeal. Harry pulled out the first years' schedules and threw them at the first years. Sighing heavily, he handed the bunch to them, glad that those ones, unlike the fourth through seventh years, didn't have specific names that they were supposed to go to.

When he had finally finished ten minutes later, he gazed around the table, looking for Ron or Hermione. He spotted Fred Weasley first, who saw him at the same time. Fred stood up and walked over to him.

"Happy with your schedule?" he asked jovially, having already forgotten about Audry's mention of their cousin.

"I haven't even gotten the chance to see it yet," Harry answered, reaching for an empty glass. He located the nearest pitcher of juice and poured it into the cup.

"That's because you didn't do enough naughty things," Fred said, a lamenting tone in his voice. Harry snorted into his glass.

"Naughty things?" he said with a laugh. Fred shrugged.

"In any case, George and I have decided that we're going to be the new c-"

"Says who?" Katie Bell, the Gryffindor chaser, walked up behind Fred and looked at Harry. When she saw the prefect badge on Harry's robes, her eyes widened a little bit. "You're a prefect?"

"Yeah," Harry said sadly. She raised an eyebrow but let it lie. "When's the first match of the year?"

"Oh, come on; you're not really going to let these two be captain, are you?"

"I don't care _who's_ captain!" He said, exasperated. "Just so long as we can play!"

"We also need one new chaser and a keeper," Alicia Spinnet, another of Harry's Quidditch teammates said from behind Harry, making him jump. "Know anyone who might be a good candidate?"

"Nope," Harry said. "Well, maybe Ron."

"Are you kidding?" George said, joining them with his mouth half full with a piece of toast. "He's an okay keeper, but he'd never want to be on a school team. He prefers to watch, as far as I know. He does like to play for fun, though." Harry grinned at them.

"What, you don't call what we do fun?"

"When you have someone like Wood for captain, you're better off going pro," Fred pointed out.

"I say one of you four should be captain; you've had the most experience with quidditch." Harry said, changing the subject.

"Why don't we discuss this later?" Katie suggested. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving." She then left with Alicia hot on her tail, the two of them talking about something to do with Flitwick's class. Harry shrugged and looked around again for Ron and Hermione. He saw them sitting near the end closest to the top table. Hermione had her nose glued to her DADA book, whereas Ron was thoroughly engrossed in a conversation with Audry. Harry shook his head and walked over, helping himself to a bagel in front of Hermione's book. She looked up when she felt his arm brush her shoulder and smiled.

"Where have you been?" she asked as he sat down.

"Impromptu quidditch meeting," he said around a chunk of the bagel.

"Hmm," she murmured, taking a sip of the liquid in the mug that was in her left hand and turned the page.

"Is that all you're having?" Ron asked suddenly, looking hungrily at Hermione's near-empty plate. Hermione looked up.

"Why?"

"I just want the bagels as it is; they look delicious, don't they?"

"They _are_ good," Harry said through another mouthful. Hermione shrugged and pushed the plate towards Ron. Audry narrowed her eyes slightly but said nothing. Again Harry heard the faint whispering in his head that he had heard at the feast the night before. He tried to tune into it, furrowing his brow in concentration. _Anorexic snob_ Harry heard out of nowhere. 

"Did you say something?" Harry asked Audry.

"Huh?" Audry asked looking confounded.

"Er, never mind," Harry said.

Harry sat undisturbed for the rest of the meal. He listened to Dean and Seamus's argument next to him about the best sport ("Soccer!" "No, it's quidditch!" "Soccer will always be better!"  "Quidditch!") and vaguely watched Hermione leaf through her book. Harry and Ron were just getting up to show Audry around the grounds for a bit ("Soccer!") when Dumbledore also rose from a heated argument between several of the teachers and tapped his fork against his glass of OJ. Everyone stopped talking almost immediately—Dumbledore _never_ had anything to say on weekends.

"The teachers and I have decided to hold a mini-ball for the older students in two weeks. The fourth years and above are invited. As the first through third years held small parties in their common rooms last year during the Yule Ball, we have also decided to hold a party for them in one of the roomier dungeons. Have a wonderful weekend!"

"A mini-ball?" Audry moaned. "What am I going to wear?"

Hermione scowled at Audry and left the Great Hall in a huff.

~*~

The only thing everyone talked about for the rest of the weekend was the upcoming dance. Audry had sent out an order form given to her by (surprise, surprise) Hermione, who was still being cold as ice towards her, for a pair of dress robes. Neither girl would reveal what it looked like, though Parvarti Patil and Lavender Brown, the two gossip queens of Gryffindor, heavily discussed about what it might look like. There were many versions, ranging from see-through black silk finery that should only be seen by one self to a luxurious gown made of satin that was popular in the 1600s. Audry enjoyed all the attention but gave no answers, and turned down every request from every boy ranging from the shyest first year to the snobbiest seventh year. On Monday morning during breakfast as Harry entered the great hall, he noticed Draco Malfoy cornering Audry, trying to talk to her. She sneered and said something that Harry couldn't hear, but the back of Malfoy's neck and his ears went bright pink. Audry stalked past him, making sure to bump his shoulder hard as she passed.

"Of all the nerve," she growled, angrily throwing food onto her plate.

"What is it?" Hermione asked idly, rummaging through her bag.

"Draco Malfoy…hah! What a joke…a sick, demented joke, that is…"

"What's a sick demented joke?" Ron and Harry asked in unison, but Harry had a slight idea of what was bothering her so much.

"He asked me to the ball! Excuse me while I go puke out what little is in my stomach at the moment…disgusting!" She kept murmuring as she stomped out of the room, something that brought a small smile to Hermione's face.

"I'll kill him!" Ron exclaimed.

"You know, I'm starting to like that girl," Hermione said, grabbing a cup and pouring herself a very tiny amount of apple juice.

The first class of the day, much to Harry and Ron's annoyance, was Divination. Audry seemed slightly curious about it, as she had it too. Hermione waved to them as usual as the friends split up, heading towards her Arithmancy class.

"What does she do in there anyway?" Audry asked as she panted while they were three staircases from the top of the tower.

"No idea," Ron answered. "Don't talk to me until we get up there…I think I'll collapse from lack of energy!" Luckily for Harry and Audry he didn't, and they got to the top with time to spare. No one else was there yet, but Harry could hear high-pitched laughter from a few flights down, meaning that Lavender and Parvarti were approaching.

"I  can't stand those two," Audry whispered.

The trap door opened mysteriously when the two girls reached the top, both pink faced and out of breath. Harry climbed up first and grabbed a seat closest to the window. He opened it a few inches to let some of the perfumed air that he remembered only all too well to be the cause of sleeping in class out of the window. When Audry stuck her head up through the hole, she looked around, sniffed, and sneezed violently. There was a loud crash when she hit the ground below, and Lavender and Parvarti came up looking very annoyed.

"Who pushed her?"

"No one; she sneezed." Ron said with a smile.

"What a violent sneeze, my dear," Professor Trelawney said in her mystical voice as she entered from some unseen door near the far left-hand corner of the room. Harry jumped slightly. He had forgotten about her strange entering habits over the summer. When she saw whom the owner of the sneeze was, her eyes widened slightly. "It cannot be," she murmured loud enough for all the students to hear. She opened her mouth to say something else, and then shook her head. Audry rolled her eyes and plunked down beside Ron and Harry, her hair flopping around. She sighed and blew a puff of air towards an offending lock of hair to settle it into a different spot.

"Jeez, it's hot up here! Professor, may I open a window?"

"And disturb the clairvoyant vibrations of my tower? Certainly, not!"

"But that one's open a bit already! If we open it a bit more, it's not going to let any out. Besides, I think I'm allergic to whatever incense you've used in here." And with that, she sneezed again, throwing herself from the pouf. Professor Trelawney was giving her a look quite like the one that she often gave Hermione back in Harry and Ron's third year. Harry tried to stifle a smile, and heard Ron give out a strange strangling sound that might have been covering a snigger. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan, who were standing on the ladder, listened to Audry as she let out her small and 'disturbing' speech and then caused the sound of two more loud thumps at the bottom of the ladder, followed by roaring laughter could be heard quite clearly. Professor Trelawney's face mirrored the look of anger that Professor McGonagall often wore when regarding her students after one of them did something naughty in her classes.

"Let us get started, then," she said sharply. Harry chanced a glance at Audry. Her lips were twitching as if she were trying to contain a grin. When the eerie teacher turned away, she let the smile grow to consume her entire face. The quiet whispering that had been bothering Harry started up in his mind again, and this time instead of trying to catch it, he ignored it, hoping that it would just leave him alone.

"Crazy old hag!" Audry whispered in his ear suddenly.

"She always has been," Harry whispered back.

"We will be going over everything that we have learned in the past two years this year for the upcoming OWLs." Audry's hand shot up into the air, causing Harry and Ron to duck in fear of being hit. Professor Trelawney blinked.

"What are 'OWLs'?" she asked curiously.

"A test that all fifth years must take," she answered crisply. She opened her mouth to say something else and Audry's arm was in the air again.

"You mean, an exam?"

"No, it's more difficult than an exam. Now can we _please_ move on to the subject that I teach? Thank-you, Ms…"

"Just Audry. No last name," she added when Professor Trelawney opened her mouth to disapprove.

"Alright then. We will start again with the tea le- what _is_ it, Ms…Audry?"

"Tea leaves are an extremely imprecise order of Divination, Professor; the shapes would look different to each person who looked at it. Wouldn't we be much better off doing something like crystal ball reading?"

"My dear, you do not _read_ a crystal ball," she snapped waspishly. Audry looked slightly confused.

"If you don't call that reading, then what is it?"

"It's…my dear, if you're really that curious, I would be happy to explain it to you after class. Now, would everybody please go over to the china cabinet and take one blue teacup? Neville, please wait till everyone else is done and move slowly when you're getting one. Oh, and stay away from the top shelf." Harry, Audry, and Ron stood up to go get cups from the cupboard, and while they did, Audry began to snicker.

"What's so funny?" Ron asked while reaching over Seamus' head to grab a cup.

"She's not a real Seer!" She snorted.

"We've known that for years," Harry told her.

"They've put up for her for that long?"

When nobody spoke, Ron supplied, "There was another teacher before her, but she disappeared before Voldemort's downfall. It was all hushed up, but Charlie, my second oldest brother," he said as Audry looked slight confused, "was at the school at the time, and he took Divination for some strange reason. You wouldn't be able to get anyone to talk about it, and it's not recorded anywhere." The three of them went and sat back down, cups clasped tightly in their hands, and waited for Professor Trelawney to pour them some tea.

"You know, I really wish there was some other liquid that did this that we could drink," Audry stated, wrinkling her nose at the bitter taste of the drink. "I don't like tea very much. I drink juice more often, but that doesn't leave dregs." She polished off the cup with a grimace and a slight shudder, and then passed her cup to Ron, who was still drinking his. Harry turned and looked out the open window, which Professor Trelawney still hadn't closed, and sipped his. Audry sat with a bored expression on her face, her chin cradled in her hands.

Ten minutes later, they were all thoroughly engrossed in explaining what shapes they saw in the cups. Ron mentioned Seeing several large boulders in Audry's cup. She furrowed her brow at the comment while Harry sniggered.

"Well, you have a large cat in here—no, two large cats," she corrected herself, reading Harry's cup.

"Cats? I don't like cats very much."

"How can you not like cats?  Well anyway, I didn't say that you did. I just said that there were two cats. And they're not house cats. Look here," she said, pointing at it and leaning over. Harry peered over her shoulder and looked. Sure enough, plain as day, there were to cats, one with a ruff around its neck, possibly a mane, and the other had strips missing from it.

"Their tails are entwined," Harry said. "I wonder what that means."

"Dunno. But look at this! It's a fish…like, Pisces?"

"That's strange…my birthday's in July, not March."

"Maybe it means something else…?"

"Like what?"

"Maybe we're having fish for dinner," Ron interrupted them. Harry shrugged and looked at his cup.

"Err…" he said, turning the cup. "Talk about strange…get a load of this!" He showed the other two his and Audry's cups combined. "Look at this! They're almost exactly the same! Well, with the exception of these two squiggly lines in yours, Audry." Audry stared.

"That_ is_ strange."

"That's not supposed to happen, is it?"

"My dears, your destinies are intertwined," Professor Trelawney said from behind them. She pointed to the fish, the cats, and to a strange blob that Harry couldn't make out. "The fish: to understand; two cats, intertwined at the tails: life meetings that were not and never will be completely separated; and—no!" She gasped. Harry sighed. Audry frowned.

"Now what?" she asked haughtily.

"The Grim!" She wailed. Audry's look of disbelief faded and turned to fear, which could only be seen in her eyes. A throbbing bell rang from a great distance below them. Harry began to pack up his stuff and kicked open the trap door.

"Well, she's managed to get Audry off the hook," Ron said sarcastically as they waited for her at the top of the stairs.

"Did you see her face though?" Harry asked, slightly confused. "Did you see her face all through when Trelawney was giving her speech?"

"No; why?"

"Remember how I told you what Trelawney did at the third year exams? When she made the prediction that Wormtail would go back do Voldemort?" Ron flinched when Harry finished the sentence.

"Yeah, what's the point?"

"She had the—"

"Wait up, guys!" Audry interrupted him as she stepped off the ladder, her bag swinging wildly from her shoulder. Her expression had completely changed, and she was once again cheerful.

"I'll tell you later," Harry whispered as she joined up with them.

"I still can't believe you hate cats!" Audry said.

"I never said I hated cats," Harry replied.

"Not liking cats is the same thing," Audry responded.

Harry rolled his eyes and Ron stifled a laugh.  

~*~

"I can't believe one teacher could be so mean to a whole house!" Audry remarked as she, Ron, Harry, and Hermione left Potions just before lunch.

"He's always been like that," Ron said mournfully. Audry grinned at him.

"I could fix that for him with a cheering charm," she said, fingering her wand. Though Harry dearly wished that he could see Snape smiling without menace towards the students, he had a feeling that all four of them would be in deep trouble, no matter who had done it.

"I'll talk to you guys later," Hermione said, branching off when they reached the corridor towards the library. "I need to look something up for my Arithmancy class."

"See you downstairs, then," Harry said his heart fluttering a bit as Hermione left. He and Ron waved to her as she walked out of sight. Harry looked back to Audry and saw her frowning again.

"What's up?" Ron asked, seeing the expression too.

"Something's just buggin' me, that's all," she told him. 

"Maybe it's the cats?" Ron whispered.

 Just to prove it was nothing, she replaced the frown with her heart-melting smile. Ron just about did melt on the spot, and it took every shred of will that Harry had to keep from laughing out loud.

The rest of the walk down to the Great Hall was uneventful. Harry was quiet, thinking about the tea leaves. What had been read in them was much different then what was in it during his third year. Professor Trelawney had been predicting bad things would happen to him for the entire year. This time, it seemed that his and Audry's destinies were intertwined for some reason. It just didn't make any sense.

They arrived in the Great Hall ten minutes later to the cheerful noisiness that it always was. Harry grabbed a seat quickly, actually having to scuffle his way into one to avoid being trampled by a burly new sixth year who seemed to be having a row with someone halfway down the table.

"Too many people here," Harry yelled to Ron over the noise. There was some cheering, followed quickly by what sounded like skin hitting more skin. Harry sighed and got up, deciding to use his prefect duties and to stop the fight. Once he got over to where the fight was occurring, he discovered that it had already been taken care of by Cho Chang, who was glaring at the sixth year. She looked up when she heard Harry coming.

"Solved the problem?" he asked her.

"Yeah. You know, new students, trying to fit in, causing problems…" she trailed off with a shrug. ("Guess it wasn't the cats, Ron whispered.) Both of them stood there for a few moments, just looking (though trying not to) at each other. Harry opened his mouth to speak at the same time that Cho did, making up his mind within a split second.

"D'you want to go to the mini ball with me?" Harry asked before she could form the words. She quickly closed her mouth and smiled.

"You know, I was just about to ask you the exact same thing. Sure, I'd love to go." Harry smiled widely, his stomach full of butterflies, and turned back to the Gryffindor table.

"Okay, then. See you."

"Bye," she waved to him and walked off towards the Ravenclaw table. Harry headed back over to his seat, and found Ron thoroughly engrossed in a conversation with the American, explaining something that Harry couldn't hear. When he sat down next to Ron, he looked up.

"What were you doing talking to Cho?" he asked.

"Prefect stuff," he said simply. Ron grinned as Audry butted in.

"No you weren't. You were too busy asking her to the ball to talk about prefect stuff." When Harry blushed, Ron's mouth fell open.

"You asked a sixth year to the mini ball?" he said, astounded.

"Who _cares_?" Audry asked. She grabbed a bowl that was near Harry's elbow and filled it to the brim with soup. "In any case, at least he _has_ a date, unlike _some_ people here." She elbowed Ron in the stomach when she said that, causing him to spit a large portion of his mouthful onto the tablecloth. He glared at her before continuing to spoon the scalding soup into his mouth.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked when most people were leaving to go to their next class. "She said she'd meet us down here, and she never did. What do we have next?"

"Umm…DADA, it seems. Audry?"

"Same here. We have all the same courses, it seems." She and Ron huddled closer together, pointing out the classes that they had that were the same. Harry checked his watch.

"We should get moving, guys, whether or not Hermione has showed up yet. We have two minutes, and we'll never get there in time now in any case." Audry leapt to her feet and grabbed her bag.

"You showed us where that class was, right?" she asked.

"No, I don't think we did. Come on, if we run, we _might_ be able to make it on time." Harry's heart thudded at Hermione's name again, but he ignored it. The three of them took off for the staircase, oblivious to the rat with a silver claw sitting just underneath the bench.

AN: So what did you think of this chapter?  It's not much different then verywildwitch's but it will be very different eventually.  Please leave us a review, we love getting reviews!!  

Kittyluver87 and Cricket

(Sugar High)+


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